Tim Draper

Tim Draper, you're spending too much ("Voucher Drive Woos Public With Prizes," Sept. 19). Tammany Hall and the elder Mayor Daley of Chicago bought votes for one or two bucks. Adjusted for inflation, perhaps $5 to $10 today. Or instead of money, a pint of booze was the motivation to participate in the privilege of voting. There may be a silver lining in this for voters. If everyone running for office or sponsoring an initiative offered immediate material rewards for voting their way, we might all become as rich as Draper.

When you walk onto the set of Jesse Draper's Silicon Valley-based talk show, you catch on pretty quickly that this isn't CNBC. The chairs are pink. The walls? Pink. Draper's snug dress? Yep. Her high heels are pink too, with what are technically called sparkly things on them. And the video-game guitar she is handing to "Guitar Hero" co-creator Kai Huang, who's wearing a pink cape and matching headband? Also pink. "They are by no means entertainers," Draper, 26, says of her tech-whiz guests, "so I wanted to make them more entertaining, make them real people and make them have a little fun."

When you walk onto the set of Jesse Draper's Silicon Valley-based talk show, you catch on pretty quickly that this isn't CNBC. The chairs are pink. The walls? Pink. Draper's snug dress? Yep. Her high heels are pink too, with what are technically called sparkly things on them. And the video-game guitar she is handing to "Guitar Hero" co-creator Kai Huang, who's wearing a pink cape and matching headband? Also pink. "They are by no means entertainers," Draper, 26, says of her tech-whiz guests, "so I wanted to make them more entertaining, make them real people and make them have a little fun."

Tim Draper, you're spending too much ("Voucher Drive Woos Public With Prizes," Sept. 19). Tammany Hall and the elder Mayor Daley of Chicago bought votes for one or two bucks. Adjusted for inflation, perhaps $5 to $10 today. Or instead of money, a pint of booze was the motivation to participate in the privilege of voting. There may be a silver lining in this for voters. If everyone running for office or sponsoring an initiative offered immediate material rewards for voting their way, we might all become as rich as Draper.

In all of Southern California, the largest concentration of technology companies lies in the IRVINE CO.'s Irvine Spectrum center. About 25,000 people work in 1,000 high-tech Irvine Spectrum businesses at the junction of the San Diego and Santa Ana freeways in Orange County, including scores of computer, software, biotechnology and medical device companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 firms. Dick Sim, group president of investment properties for the Irvine Co.

The elections are barely over, but Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper is already launching an education-related initiative for the November 2000 ballot--with the help of the Internet. Draper's initiative, LocalChoice2000, will seek to introduce school choice in California and boost the amount of local control over schools. The initiative itself will be written with the help of concerned citizens who visit http://www.localchoice2000.com, his new Web site.

Southern California is emerging as one of the nation's premier high-tech hubs, and it isn't happening by accident. A combination of intrepid entrepreneurs, creative scientific researchers, aggressive investors, supportive company executives, tireless economic development officials and others has helped the region grow. Together, they have raised the Tech Coast's profile both at home and around the country. But those at the forefront know their work has just begun.

For those seeking another indicator of which way the economy is going, look no further than the annual charity auction in San Francisco thrown by Red Herring magazine. This year's bash at a night club near Union Square was still a top draw for Silicon Valley venture capitalists, their significant others and assorted hangers-on. But Thursday night's festivities seemed a lot less festive than those in December 1999, before a black cloud began descending on Nasdaq and its high-tech issues.

Steve Wozniak, who helped usher in the personal computer era when he co-founded Apple Computer Inc., emerged from semi-retirement Wednesday with plans to create new wireless devices to help "everyday people track everyday things." Wozniak, who in 1976 created the first Apple computers with high school friend Steve Jobs, said he has formed a new company called Wheels of Zeus, or wOz, a play on his nickname.

In a move that critics claim comes close to vote-buying, the millionaire-backed school voucher campaign is giving away computers, a Hawaii vacation and shopping sprees to persuade people to register electronically as supporters of Proposition 38.

In all of Southern California, the largest concentration of technology companies lies in the IRVINE CO.'s Irvine Spectrum center. About 25,000 people work in 1,000 high-tech Irvine Spectrum businesses at the junction of the San Diego and Santa Ana freeways in Orange County, including scores of computer, software, biotechnology and medical device companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 firms. Dick Sim, group president of investment properties for the Irvine Co.

Opposition to a hard-fought school voucher initiative on California's November ballot is growing, a poll released Friday shows. Proposition 38 would let parents use $4,000 in taxpayers' money to send their child to a private school. The Field Poll found that 52% of likely voters who were surveyed oppose Proposition 38, while 36% support it and 12% are undecided.

Re "It's Not a Good Choice for Our Poor Families," Commentary, July 27: John E. Coons and Stephen D. Sugarman have three fundamental flaws in their argument against Prop. 38, the school voucher initiative. The first is that it would only benefit the rich who can afford private schools. I send two children to private school, and the cost is about $3,300 per student annually. The second is that we would have students from rich families fleeing public schools. Not only have poor families benefited most from existing voucher programs, but assuming that their supposition were true, then Prop.